Kelsey Plum Accidentally Hugs Opposing Coach Chasing Loose Ball: The Video Is a Must-See
Kelsey Plum tried to save a loose ball and ended up in Karl Smesko’s arms. That is not a metaphor. The Phoenix Mercury guard literally leaped into the Atlanta Dream head coach during Wednesday night’s game, and the video is now everywhere.
Here is what happened. Plum was chasing a fast-break loose ball toward the sideline. She ran out of real estate. Rather than fall face-first, she wrapped her arms around the closest solid object she could find, which happened to be Smesko standing on the Dream sideline. He caught her. She stayed on her feet. Play continued.
The clip broke the internet in about eight seconds. The WNBA’s own social team leaned into it with a caption that read “KP just wanted a hug mid-game.” Commentators on the broadcast joked about the cinematic quality of the moment. Smesko took it in stride, laughing about it after the game.
Plum is the best guard in Phoenix and one of the best guards in the league. She joined the Mercury in the offseason after spending her entire career with the Las Vegas Aces, and she has been the driving force of an offense that also features Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally. The Mercury are in a legitimate title race in the Western Conference.
Smesko is in his first year as Atlanta head coach after coming over from Florida Gulf Coast where he ran one of the most efficient offenses in college basketball. He turned Atlanta into a playoff team basically overnight, and the Dream have been one of the more interesting stories in the league this season.
The moment is going to live forever in WNBA highlight reels for one reason. It shows how physical and unscripted the league has become. This is not the WNBA of 2005 that had to fight for a single national broadcast per week. This is a league drawing sold-out arenas, breaking viewership records every month, and producing viral moments that cross over to fans who do not normally follow women’s basketball.
Plum played it up after the game. She hugged Smesko again during the postgame handshake line, this time on purpose, and joked with reporters that she was just trying to say hello. Smesko played along.
The Mercury won the game, which matters more than the meme in the long run. But for one night, the story was Plum accidentally jumping into an opposing coach’s arms while trying to save a possession. That is the beauty of live sports. You cannot script this stuff.
Expect this clip to be recycled on WNBA broadcasts for the rest of the season. And expect Plum to be asked about it approximately 50 more times before she wants to stop talking about it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
